Family defends man shot, killed by Maui police

WAILUKU,>> The family of a man shot to death by Maui police say he was reaching for a cellphone, not a gun.

Police said Marshall Langford was attempting to flee in a stolen vehicle in the parking lot of the Mana Kai Maui Resort on Tuesday when he pointed a handgun at an officer. The officer fired at Langford, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Genevieve Langford told the Maui News her 31-year-old son didn’t have a gun and that police didn’t need to use deadly force.

“They could have Tasered him or shoot the tires, do something like that,” she said. “They’re trained. They didn’t have to shoot. There were other ways and means.”

Maui police issued a statement this afternoon that more than one firearm were recovered from the vehicle Langford was in. Police declined to say how many, or what kind, of guns were recovered. Police also recovered a glass smoking pipe, commonly used to smoke crystal meth, from the car, the statement said.

The 18-year police veteran who shot Langford has been placed on administrative leave. His name has not been released.

Several hundred hotel guests were not allowed back into their rooms for more than three hours while police searched for a suspect who had been with Langford. A 28-year-old man later turned himself in to police.

Langford was a passenger in the car, when the 28-year-old man drove them to the resort where a friend works, Langford’s younger brother, Marcus Langford, said.

Marshall Langford’s mother said her son wouldn’t have fled and that even if the car was stolen, that’s no excuse to shoot him.

Records show he had 18 criminal convictions, include five for unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle.

“He did make bad choices,” Genevieve Langford said of his drug use and dropping out of high school. “My son wasn’t perfect, but he didn’t have to die that way.”